SVG Plugin Problems with Internet Explorer.

[elfish]

This little warning that might save people some time and aggravation.

PROBLEM. The "Adobe SVG Plugin" for webs browsers will cause Internet Explorer 8 to hang, lockup and behave strangely

BACKGROUND. Adobe has a plugin for Internet Browsers that allows it to display SVG files and drawings. Since cave maps are often rendered as SVG files, it is sometimes useful to install the plugin to view cave maps.

The plugin can be found here:

http://www.adobe.com/svg/viewer/install/

Adobe discontinued support for the Plugin on January 1st, 2009.

TRACKING DOWN THE PROBLEM. I had noticed the problem with Internet Explorer for months. At first I thought it was a bug in Internet Explorer and I assumed would be fixed with one of Microsoft's updates. When that didn't' happen, I searched the internet for solutions, but nothing worked.

Finally, I discovered that if I turned off all plugins, the problem went away. Since I had a couple dozen plugins, it took a several day of trial and error before I found the culprit.

SOLUTIONS. The solution to the problem is to turn off the plugin until you really need it. Here are instructions for disabling the plugin:

1. Run Internet Explorer. If you have the "Menu Bar" enabled in Internet Explorer, select the "Tools -> Manage Add Ons" option. If you don't have the Menu Bar enabled, press the "Tools" button (it has a little "Gear" icon) and select the "Manage Add-Ons" option.

2. In the Left Panel, under "Add-on Types," select "Toolbars and Extensions."

3. In the list on the Right side, locate the "SVG Document" item. It will be in a section labeled "Adobe Systems Incorporated." Highlight the item by clicking on it and press the "Disable" button that appears in the lower right corner. The plugin will be disabled and will stop causing problems.

RE-ENABLING THE PLUGIN. You can use the same process described above to re-enable the SVG Viewer. You can do this any time you want to view an SVG image or view a web page with SVG embedded in it.

OTHER PLUGINS. There are some other plugin available. I tested several and they actually had more problems than the Adobe Plugin.

OTHER BROWSERS. Other browser like Opera, Safari, Google Chrome and Firefox support SVG without the need for a plugin. The support is not always complete. This link provides more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Vector_Graphics